Considering I thought the Steve Buscemi-hosted episode of “SNL” was going to feature an appearance from Buscemi’s friend, Adam Sandler, who would perform “Hanukkah Song #456,” complete with a verse parodying the recent failure of Jack & Jill, I was pleasantly surprised with what actually aired. It wasn’t as good as the Jason Segel or Melissa McCarthy episodes, but it had one extremely funny sketch, a bunch of OK ones, and a few “meh”‘s thrown in there for good measure, too. In other words, it was a B, B- episode of “SNL.”
Buscemi was clearly reading off the cue cards for most of the night (it was really obvious in that awful Sue sketch), and though he was most often relegated to side character duty, he did an admirable job. It was a little odd, though, that the only mention of “Boardwalk Empire” came during the monologue — it seems like it’d be an easy show to parody, and I would have loved to have seen Bill Hader as Richard and Kristen Wiig as Lucy.
Clips and commentary — and Colin Quinn’s fake Twitter bitching about a sketch — of some of the episode’s specific segments on the following pages.
https://www.hulu.com/embed/Ggbv6R-n8BS-_SAZ7uQFiw
Whenever I see Fred Armisen on the show, I think to myself, “What’s the guy from “Portlandia” doing…oh yeah, right.” Fun fact: if you replace “NFL” with “Leonard Woodcock” in the photo below, you’d get Josh’s Enemies List. Diplomatic relations with China?! What’s next, us eating their food?
https://www.hulu.com/embed/thJDtKmdcqBDY2i4qI4hwg
What everyone has said about “SNL” over the past forever, in a single sketch: good premise hampered by its too-long running length. Though Kenan’s Magical Negro is pretty great.
https://www.hulu.com/embed/_kiIEiKDDx7yIPwVeu3_BA
I love Hader’s impressions, and therefore, I loved this one, where he played “Dateline”‘s Keith Morrison.
https://www.hulu.com/embed/QxUdyEPlNKGHayQ8y6s2nA
When I saw the high school setting, I was prepared for the worst: “SNL”‘s Sandusky skit. But the writers found a clever twist on the story: a school district being surprised that a high school gym teacher isn’t a pedophile. Colin Quinn, though, not a fan (even if he was just pulling one of his fake-rage stunts):
https://www.hulu.com/embed/0Ps9B919JbKWWa_Y5d0RuQ
I didn’t think it was possible for me to not laugh at someone throwing themselves out a window. I was wrong.
https://www.hulu.com/embed/z8BCpgQMr418UAJ_Yx0Fqw
For the guys:
For the ladies:
https://www.hulu.com/embed/dThBe7IfKV6t7_nXDixKHw
My favorite sketch of the night. The perfect mix of Christmas sentimentality and Buscemi’s patented weirdness, with a bit of “Kristen Wiig wearing a blonde wig” to boot. Between this and Jason Segel’s Andre the Giant and Charlie Day’s “Seinfeld” cop near-closers, the last five minutes of “SNL” have been owning this season.
